It was supposed to revolutionize the global monetary system. Instead, the bitcoin virtual currency that has captured the imagination of investors and financiers is on the verge of collapse.

In a stunning blow to a novel way to buy products and services, the world's largest exchange for trading bitcoin currency shut down Tuesday, triggering a massive sell-off and sending many prospective investors away — perhaps for good."This is extremely destructive," said Mark Williams, a risk-management expert and former Federal Reserve Bank examiner. "What we're seeing is a lot of the flaws. It's not only fragile, it's fragile as eggshells."

The mysterious circumstances that triggered the failure of the exchange, Mt. Gox in Tokyo, is only adding to the renewed anxiety over the virtual currency, which just a month earlier had been gaining momentum and suppor…

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico made clear Tuesday it is determined to keep Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in its highest-security prison for the foreseeable future, putting off U.S. extradition in a move that could bolster President Enrique Pena Nieto's nationalist credentials but also shine a spotlight on the country's woeful judicial system.

Experts say Pena Nieto's administration and those of his predecessors have proven unable to match headline-grabbing arrests like Guzman's with complex, long-term investigations and prosecutions of deep-rooted criminal networks. Cases have stalled and cartels have continued to operate. Last year, one of Guzman's closest allies walked out of the prison where the U.S. said he was running drugs from behind bars.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is expressing concern about Venezuela's escalating political crisis and wants to meet with leaders on both sides to help ease tensions in an upcoming trip.

Carter made the offer in letters this week to President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles.

In the letter to Capriles, he urges the opposition to make clear its commitment to act within constitutional limits and strongly reject violence. He says the government must guarantee the right to peaceful protest and impartial justice for jailed protesters.

Ciruli Bros. LLC expects volume of its ataulfo mangoes to hit in April this season, says partner Chris Ciruli. As the spring mango season approached, shipments of the ataulfo variety out of Mexico were expected to climb more gradually than in some recent years.“In the past we’ve had some pretty aggressive marches as far as volume,” Chris Ciruli, partner in Nogales, Ariz.-based Ciruli Bros. LLC, said Feb. 3.

“I don’t think we’re going to see that early volume hit in March. You’re going to see more of an April crop.”

Ciruli Bros. markets the yellow variety under its Champagne label, which it ships from facilities in Nogales and Donna, Texas. As production gains steam, they’ll become more of an alternative to the South American kents that retailers have been buying lately.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture scheduled its first f.o.b. report on Mexican ataulfos for around Feb. 23. Light crossings only were expected until then, withou…

The disappearance of the 'bloody big mango' was part of a publicity stunt.

The mystery of the missing mango in Australia has been solved. A chicken fastfood chain on Tuesday confessed to picking off the 10-ton, three-storey high Big Mango from the tourist information center in the Queensland town of Bowen in the early hours of Monday and hiding it in a nearby paddock.